The Only Exception
by rippingbutterflywings
Summary: Jace bumps into Clary at the bookstore when he tries to find a book with the song he heard that one night. But the person who played it is closer than he thinks. And he can't stop thinking about Clary. One-shot. AU/all human


**Hiii! Another late night. I. Can't. Sleep. And, people, I've taken pills. I even made myself a tea. I'm gonna go sleep now. Writing finally made me sleepy, haha. I got INSPIRED again. It's 5am, and I decided I would write another one-shot. It's very unlike my last one. This one is…happier. I was in the mood for happy. Sorry if it sucks. Sorry if there are mistakes. My beta has not seen this (and I am very sorry for that), so there'll be mistakes. I'm sure of it. And I'm VERY SORRY. But, OMG, my other one shot got 96 views in 24 hours! I pretty much died when I saw that. I woke up, checked my emails, and saw a couple of people have added it to their favorites. To you, thank you so much! Thank you for reading, for reviewing, and for adding it to your favorites! It makes me very, very happy!**

Jace walked the New York streets, looking to see if he found some pretty girl. There were girls, alright. They stared at him as he passed by, some of the brave ones waving and sending air-kisses his way. Jace pretended like he didn't notice. He didn't _want _to notice. He wanted to find one single, pretty girl. And by "pretty," he meant decent. Not skanky. Isabelle would kill him if he brought one of those girls—he glanced at the girls that were still staring at him—home.

He went inside a bookstore, hoping to find a piano book. He wanted to learn this song he'd heard one night. He'd been walking by an abandoned building when he heard the song. He wasn't sure which song it was, but whoever was playing it had to be talented. So Jace decided to come to the store and buy a book. And then he'd play them all and see if one of them was it. _At least, _he thought, _I won't be bored anymore._

"Simon," he heard a female voice say behind him. "I will not give you more money to buy a comic book. I refuse to." Jace turned around to get a better look at the girl. She was small, with bright red curls. She looked mildly amused, yet she was determined.

"Please," the guy in front of her begged. "I'll pay something next time."

"That's what you always say." The girl rolled her eyes.

"I'll let you come to the band's exclusive practice?" he asked tentatively.

"I get to go anyway, Si." The girl sighed. "Fine. But you buy pizza."

"Thanks, Clary." He threw her arms around the girl. "You're the best."

"Just pay the book," Clary said, handing him some cash. She tried to sound impatient, but she was smiling. The guy with dark hair went to pay the comic book. Clary's eyes landed on Jace for a second before she left to see more books.

Clary scanned the shelves. For some reason, Jace couldn't take her eyes off of her. She wasn't the hottest girl he'd ever seen, but she was beautiful.

"Clary?" Simon called. He was in front of Jace. Which meant Clary was behind—

He couldn't finish thinking, though, because Clary bumped into him from behind.

"I'm sorry!" Clary said. "Are you okay?"

"It was my fault," Jace said, but she was already walking away.

"Sorry!" she called behind her, and then she was gone. 

The days went by in a blur. Jace played every song on the book he bought that day, but he couldn't find the song he'd heard.

He decided to go for a walk. Maybe, if he was lucky, the person would be playing again.

It was cold outside, but it wasn't snowing as it would have every other December day in the City. Jace had a knife in his pocket, just in case someone tried to rob him. Maryse kind of got overprotective at times. Jace hated it.

As he reached the building, he heard it again. The song. It came from inside the building. And, for the first time, there were lyrics. Jace knew it was a cover of some sorts, but he didn't know whose it was.

The person singing was a girl. Jace lingered outside the building, listening.

_And I told you to be patient_

_And I told you to be fine_

_And I told you to be balanced_

_And I told you to be kind_

That's when Jace remembered which song it was—Skinny Love, by Bon Iver. He vaguely remembered it playing somewhere—maybe the radio.

_Who will love you?_

_Who will fight?_

Jace decided to go inside. The door creaked, but the person behind the piano didn't seem to notice. Jace could barely see her red hair, bright and shining against the moonlight coming through the windows.

Clary. The girl from the bookstore.

She finished the song, but she didn't start another one immediately. She stayed there, in silence. _She knows I'm here, _Jace thought.

But then she picked up a guitar. To his surprise, she didn't sit down. She walked right to him. When she saw his face, her eyes widened.

"You're the guy from the bookstore," she whispered.

"I'm glad you remembered," Jace said. "Although I'm hard to forget."

Clary rolled her eyes and handed him the guitar. "Since you wanted to hear, I figured you play something."

He _did_ play, actually. He played guitar and piano. But how did she know that?

"Go on," she urged him, trying to bite back a grin. "Play."

Jace rolled his eyes and sat down. "Any requests?"

She seemed to think about it. Her features softened as she asked, "Do you know this song?" She handed him a sheet of paper filled with notes. He grinned.

"I know it," he replied. "Want me to sing?"

"Whatever you want."

He knew she wasn't doing this because she thought he was hot. She was doing this for the music. This was the girl he'd been looking for that day. A girl who was pretty in her own way. A girl who was fun. A girl who could defend herself. A girl he could relate to.

A girl that could understand him.

He nodded and started playing.

_He woke up from dreaming and put on his choose_

_Started making his way past two in the morning_

_He hasn't been sober for days_

Jace shuts his eyes, but not before he catches a glimpse of Clary doing the same.

_Leaning now into the breeze_

_Remembering Sunday he falls to his knees  
><em>  
>Jace started thinking. He remembered this song. He used to listen to it at night. It calmed him, but it made him sad. He didn't want to suffer for love.<p>

_I don't mean to be a bother _

_But have you seen this girl?_

_She's been running through my dreams_

_And it's driving me crazy it seems_

_I'm gonna ask her to marry me_

_Even though she doesn't believe in love_

_He's determined to call her bluff_

He wondered if Clary believed in love. It was a crazy thought, really. He didn't know her. But he wondered. Jace didn't believe in love. He hadn't experienced it before.

_The neighbors say she moved away_

_Funny how it rained all day_

But he wanted to.

He finished the song for Clary. When he opened her eyes, she was crying.

"What is it?" he asked, concerned.

"It's the song," Clary replied, shaking her head. "That was beautiful."

"I'm Jace," he told her, offering his hand out. He'd never done that. He was nervous, actually. It felt weird.

"Clary," she replied. "Thanks for playing. I-I'm stupid. I shouldn't have told you to play, but—"

Jace interrupted her. "It's okay, Clary."

"So," she said, a small smile forming on her face. "What kind of music do you like?" 

It had been three weeks since he met Clary—not since the library, but the night he _really _met her. They had spent a lot of time together, hanging out more and more until it was all they did at times.

"Seriously?" Clary laughed. "I love Green Day!"

"It was cool, meeting Billie Joe," Jace admitted. "Clary, can I ask you something?"

"What?" she asked, looking at him.

"Do you believe in love?" he blurted out.

"I didn't," Clary said, blushing. "This is going to sound majorly stupid, I know. But I didn't believe in love until I started spending time with you."

He smiled. "And why is that, Clarissa Fray?" He was mocking her, but he liked that he was her only exception. No one else had ever made her believe.

He did.

She blushed even deeper. "Because I think I'm falling in love with you, Jace Wayland," she said, using the same mocking tone he was using. However, she was serious. Dead serious.

"I think I'm falling in love with you, Clary," Jace admitted. "And I know we barely know each other—"

"You know me better than anyone," Clary said, cutting him off.

"—but I like what I know."

"Do you?" Clary said, inching closer to him.

"I do."

And then he kissed her. She was the girl he wanted, the girl he was looking for. She was the girl that covered the song in a way no one else had, raw and beautiful. She was the girl who understood him, the girl that played music at every hour for him.

And he loved her.

_

**I still wanna thank my beta, MagicWeMade, for EVERYTHING. Love you! And everyone on twitter, thank you as well. Please review! Hearing what you guys think always makes me happy. **


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